Page 39 of Positively Pricked
Crap.
"Actually," I said, moving toward him, "we can talk at the window if that's all right."
He held up a hand, as if to ward me off. "Sorry. Not now."
I stopped moving.What? Why?I glanced around, wondering what I was missing. I assured him, "I can make it quick."
"Quick's no good," he said. "Besides, I've gotta finish up here first."
Double crap.
I glanced toward my car. Even if I wanted to stay – which I totally didn't – what was I supposed to do for thirty whole minutes?
I lived on the opposite side of town and was beyond eager to leave. I gave the guy a perplexed look. "So you want me to wait in my car?"
He looked toward my car and frowned. "Nah, that's no good." Suddenly, he perked up. "Hey, I know. You could go on a walk or something."
I stared at the guy.A walk? Now?I looked longingly at my car, ugly as it was. It would be so easy to just hop into that thing and drive off, leaving this whole mess behind. After all, nothing was technically stopping me – except my own sense of decency, which was feeling severely strained at the moment.
I looked to the gated barrier that blocked the exit. Last night, the exit gate had opened automatically – or at least, that's what I'd assumed.
But what if the guy in the shack had to open it? What if last night, I'd onlythoughtit was an automatic process? How awful wouldthatbe, to force the issue with a guy I'd just gotten fired, even if he didn't yet realize it.
Again, my shoulders slumped. Who was I kidding? I wasn't going anywhere until I'd given the guy a heads-up.
After all, it was the least I could do.
And who knows? Maybe hewouldn'tbe fired. Maybe, if I gave him an advance warning, he'd be able to prepare some sort of argument that would save his job.
Or maybe – and this was a big maybe – Zane wasn't seriously planning to fire the guy at all. Either way, I needed to tread very carefully or risk doing more harm than good.
I looked down to my feet. It could be worse. At least I was wearing tennis shoes.
As if sensing his victory, the guard called out, "All right, see ya then!" A split second later, the window slammed shut, cutting off any further conversation.
Well, that was nice.
Without much enthusiasm, I decided to take the guy up on his suggestion. If nothing else, the time would go a lot faster if I was doing something. Plus, it was a cool night, and the heat in my car was iffy at best. At least if I walked, I reasoned, I'd be generating my own body heat.
So with a sigh, I turned back and started walking down the wide tree-lined sidewalk. As I moved deeper into the neighborhood, I tried to tell myself that a stroll through this rich fantasyland would be the perfect thing to distract me from my troubles.
After all, I loved to walk, and I loved to look at houses. Maybe this wouldn’t besobad.
Boy, wasIwrong – because, as it turned out, Zane Bennington had even more misery to fling my way.
